The shark men didn’t attack that night. We were still taking watches, so we would’ve seen them if they tried it. At this point, they didn’t seem to have the same kind of flight abilities that the electric squid and the puff otters had. That meant they would have to launch an assault the old-fashioned way, which gave us every advantage.

  The next morning, Billie still wasn’t her normal self. She was sluggish and quiet, though she did perk up when Holly brewed up some instant coffee.

  After some scanning, Opal confirmed that the coffee as well as the spices had some kind of preservative that our Earth didn’t have. It seemed the world of Ameritronics was just a little more advanced than we were.

  I have to say, after drinking nothing but water and the stupidly sugary Twankinian sodas, having a strong cup of super dark coffee was a great change of pace. Those Flavor Gems made the difference. Smackers Instant Coffee had been smart to trademark them.

  Billie, curled up in one of our new blankets, sat on a bus seat near our fire. She spent a full minute just smelling the coffee, which we’d poured into one of the four Ameritronics mugs we’d brought back from our salvage trip. “Is it me, or is the coffee amazing?”

  Holly, sitting nearby, sipped hers. “For instant coffee, it’s delicious, though I would like to try the US Cup Dark Roast. We have coffee filters, and maybe, if we ever figure electricity, we could bring the coffee maker over from the Ameritronics building.”

  “We could do pour-over.”

  We all quirked an eyebrow at her.

  Billie shrugged. “What? I worked for a summer at a coffee shop. It’s not rocket science. Besides, I never want to go back to San Submerged. Those flying electrical squid were so awful.”

  Khanna hadn’t tried the coffee yet. She seemed to be very suspicious of even the smell. Her English was getting better. She replied to Billie. “We no go back. Monsters. Bil-lie almost die.”

  “But I didn’t, Khanna. I’m okay.”

  Was she? She still seemed so pale. Opal said she wasn’t poisoned and that she should recover, but the zap had taken some of the fight out of her.

  Tears filled Khanna’s eyes. “Bil-lie save Khanna. Khanna say thank you. Khanna sad that…that…” The emotion cut off her voice.

  Billie left her seat and went over to the Huntress. Billie took both of Khanna’s hands in hers. “I know this has been hardon us all. I know you didn’t trust us. I know, with Sid, it’s complicated.”

  Khanna shot me a helpless glance. She wasn’t understanding all the words.

  I helped translate.

  Khanna sniffed back her tears. “Tell Bil-lie that it is complicated. But we share. And maybe more. Maybe Khanna learn to love Bil-lie because she is brave. She save Khanna. And there is more than enough desire for us to enjoy.”

  I wasn’t sure sharing all that, right there in front of the professor, was a good idea. I softened it a bit. “Khanna said she understands how complicated things are with us. But she admires your bravery, Billie, and maybe, you and her will become closer.”

  Holly coughed out a laugh. “Yes. And so, Sid Marshall’s harem grows. Well, Billie, you wanted a big lesbian orgy, and you just might get one.”

  Billie’s eyes flashed. “Don’t go there with me, Professor. Your sarcasm is not helpful, and I won’t let you shame me just because you have issues with our situation. And after your little almost threesome with Khanna and Sid, it’s pretty fucking hypocritical for you to judge me for my desires.”

  Holly closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

  Khanna glanced back and forth, clearly mystified. She then caught my eye. “The women are upset because maybe Khanna, Sid Marshall, and Bil-lie have love? The old slut is upset and jealous. The old slut is complicated.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  Billie had stood up for herself, and the anger had put a little color on her face. “I think you heard more about Khanna’s past last night. Am I wrong?”

  “No, you’re not wrong.”

  Billie looked at Khanna. “We’d like to hear more about where you came from. I know you told Sid. Would you tell us?”

  Khanna’s eyes widened, and her mouth feel open. For a second, I thought she’d bolt. But she swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. Tell them. Tell them how Khanna stand up to the Eternal Sultana. Tell them Khanna is strong, and so sorry for Djevojka. Khanna so lost without Djevojka. Khanna was so alone in the Shade Forest. Khanna was so alone on K’Shaul.”

  But not anymore.

  We spent the morning talking, and with three women, I was simply glad it was only a half-day of talking and not the full day. Women love to process things out loud, and for us men, it takes patience to listen and not tune it all out.

  At one point, we talked about how nice pancakes would be. We had the pans, but we didn’t have the batter, and processing grain wasn’t easy. Khanna’s culture might have robots and artificial insemination, but it seemed they hadn’t embraced bread or wheat products of any kind. I joked with Opal that the Fabrikata Enclave might have a collective gluten allergy, but she didn’t have the data to prove or disprove it. Khanna didn’t have Celiac’s Disease, though, that much was clear because she was optimized. I asked about her freckles, and she said all of her people could protect themselves against the sun. The Enclave had any number of stories about weak people getting sunburns.

  Mostly, we talked about Khanna’s past and our adventures the previous day in San Submerged. I wanted to go back. There had to be pancake mix there as well as syrup, and we’d need more coffee. Opal thought that at least one of the other buildings was an apartment complex, which meant we had a ton of homes to plunder.

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  We’d just have to deal with the electric squid problem. There was also the shark problem, but I didn’t want to tackle that issue right then.

  Holly agreed to start going through the Ameritronics Employee Handbook while I said I would check out Carl Zuulman’s journal. The books, though, were not our top priority.

  I physically felt the benefits of keeping Opal at 99% charged, and I wanted to keep her that way. That meant having a good supply of Inferna crystals. I wasn’t going to use the 10X crystal. That I was going to save for the Fodoron Obelisk.

  I’d spent time with Billie and Khanna, but there was another person I needed to check in with.

  “Hey, Holly, do you want to go out and do a little crystal hunting?”

  “Sure,” Holly said.

  Billie felt better about us leaving now she had more guns with ammunition.

  I had Opal give me an ammo count.

  <<<>>>

  Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum – 30 Hollow Point Rounds

  Mossburg 12 Guage Shotgun – 20 Shells

  .30-06 Remington hunting rifle – 45 Core-Lokt Pointed Soft Point bullets

  <<<>>>

  Billie waved at me with the thirty-ought-six as we left, with Khanna standing near her, giving her new friend shy glances. Khanna had smiles now. I think a part of her missed hanging out with another girl, since she’d grown up in an all female cult.

  With Billie, we’d gone north. So with Holly, we walked south and then east, taking the familiar trails that led us down the Beach Cliffs, through the rainforest, and past Privacy Rock. We saw the bush where we had our very first Sweetberries, the slimy aspen tree that we used to climb up to our redwood perch, and the avenue where I’d dragged the bus off the sands. I took a quick detour to try and find Jack and Reggie, but they weren’t in their normal hunting grounds.

  Before we knew it, we were back on our little patch of Earth, Sector 1.303.A. It was rather comforting to be back under a Colorado sun, standing around Juniper bushes, back with the familiar smells of the Grand Junction desert. The Foiros spaceship was still there, half buried in the red sands, and in the yellow desert, the termite mounds continued to grow. We didn’t have the sector designation for the Yellow Desert, otherwise, Opal would’ve known what types of creatures had were building those towers.

  Beyond the Yellow Desert weren’t just blank zones on our map. That was what had appeared to be static on the screens.

  Going south, we found a strange dead forest on our left, like a petrified forest. Basically, they were sticks rising up from the mud. I immediately dubbed it the Dead Stick Forest. The real designation was Sector 1.113.B (Baylon, Yibalon Wastes in the East Lybor continent). That meant there was a West Lybor continent, but I didn’t want Opal to go into detail about the geography of another world in a vast multiverse.

  “Found one!” Holly burst out. She tossed me a good-sized power crystal.

  I caught it. “Thanks!”

  I was already at 99%, so I put it in the basket.

  I couldn’t help but tell Holly. “That’s a big one. Nice work.”

  “Thank you.” Holly gave me a smile.

  “You don’t do that much anymore,” I said.

  “What’s that?”

  “You don’t smile much.”

  That made her laugh. “Well, Sid Marshall, nearly dying all the time does that to a person. I had a nightmare about the shark men last night, and I didn’t even have to fight them.”

  “It’s not just that. We’ve had to fight for our lives at other times, but you seemed more okay than you do now.” There was no good way to say it. I had to be blunt. “Professor, you’re getting worse.”

  She stopped walking and stood there in the strange Dead Stick Forest. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she looked good. She smelled good too, thanks to the Twankinian products. We would have a ton more soap and cosmetics from San Submerged once I became squid proof.

  “You’re doing it again.” The professor’s voice pulled me out of my reverie.

  “What am I doing?” I asked.

  “You’re planning. You’re probably thinking about how much time you should spend in the Fodoron Obelisk and how much of the 10X crystal you should use at a minute per percentage point. Also, you have your various homebuilding projects, including the deck and the outdoor kitchen. But really, you’re trying to figure out the best way to get us to the Foiros Waystation.”

  She’d caught me, and I had to grin. “Sorry, Professor. Guilty as charged. I’m glad we found what we did in San Submerged. At least that mystery is solved, and we have gear for the trip to Sector X. I’m happy.”

  She looked at me for a long time. “You are, aren’t you? What about the shark men?”

  “They haven’t attacked us yet, and I have plan. Believe me, I have a plan.”

  She came closer and took my hand. “I love that about you. I know you’re so much younger than I am, but you really are an old soul. Why is that?”

  She was so close to me, and I loved her touch. She was beautiful, smart, but troubled.

  We got caught up in each other’s eyes. “You’re not answering my question. What are you thinking about now?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  She got a serious look on her face. “Maybe I do.”

  “I was thinking about how pretty and smart you are.” I didn’t look away.

  The professor squeezed my hand before dropping it. “It’s the K’Shaul Effect. I’m not that pretty. And I’m old enough to be your mother. But we weren’t talking about me. We were talking about you. Why are you so focused and mature? Did you have a good relationship with your father?”

  I shrugged. “Sometimes it can be hard between a father and a son. My dad is an okay guy, but he put work first, which is admirable. He just wasn’t good with his time…or his money. So no, me and my dad weren’t close. My Uncle Marty, though, was a different story. We were close, went hunting, and we just kinda understood each other. He was super successful and had a ton of time to hang out with me. Also, my Aunt Kathy, she was like my mom for most of my life. When my real mom died in the car accident, well, it hurt, but there was Aunt Kathy, to help me through it.”

  It was a long speech, but I could tell that the professor was really listening.

  “If we ever get back, I’m going to thank your Aunt Kathy. She did a good job with you. You’re good with us, Sid…with me, with Khanna, even with Billie. I can see why she fell in love with you.”

  “Billie or Khanna?”

  “Both.” The professor turned away. “Thank you for not pressuring me…for letting me have my space. We started this conversation with me being troubled. You’re not wrong. I am troubled. I have to admit something to you…I’ve been mourning Colorado. While I enjoy the challenges of survival on K’Shaul, I would return to a more comfortable life if I could. The problem is, I don’t think we’ll find a way home. Part of me is relieved. Sometimes, giving up hope is a freedom.”

  Though I could only see her back, the way she said the words, she made it seem sad.

  “Look at me, Professor.”

  She not only turned back around but drew close.

  I kept my voice gentle. “Embracing our life here isn’t necessarily giving up hope. It’s being here, in the moment, and living our lives one day at a time. Aunt Kathy would say that we should bloom where we are planted. This is where we are planted. Let’s bloom.”

  Again, we locked eyes, and I knew we both felt that connection. Yes, it was the K’Shaul Effect, certainly. Our desires were turned up to high.

  But now, we’d spent enough time together, that we really knew each other. She admired me, and I admired here. No wonder she’d been so moody. She was beginning to truly accept our situation, and though she liked parts of it, giving up on modern-day life in Colorado was a lot to process.

  “Someday,” she whispered, “I’m going to kiss you again.”

  “It won’t be just a kiss, Holly. We both know that.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  We ended up hugging, and I held her for a long time. Her body felt so good next to mine, and I knew even though we weren’t getting naked, my touch was somehow helping her cope.

  We found two more crystals on the edge of the Dead Stick Forest, and I added them to the basket.

  On the way back, we held hands.

  Again, Holly squeezed my hand. “There’s something else you’re planning on doing, isn’t there?” Leave it to the professor to read me so well.

  “Yeah. I’m going to get guard dogs for Lonetree Ridge.”

  “I think I can guess their names.”

  That made me laugh.

  I wasn’t at all surprised when she asked, “How on Earth are you going to get Jack and Reggie to Lonetree Ridge.”

  “You’ll see,” I said. “I have a plan.”

  Land of the Lust: Guns of K'Shaul), so if you can't wait, you can run on over there to keep on reading. And if you have some extra cash and like the story, I have a PayPal.